The Lottery
by Celestial Night
Summary: Sure enough, Serenity looked bitterly at the piece of small white paper in her hands, an ugly black dot in the middle of it... “Stay back,” she said threateningly....She couldn't have known what that paper would do to her life. [SetoSerenity]
1. Prologue

Be surprised that this fic is coming out so soon. Originally, my planned fic, Talk of the Town, was supposed to be my next work coming out, but I couldn't resist writing a Seto/Serenity version of this story. This story is supposed to be much shorter than others…I'm assuming less than ten chapters, but that estimate may vary. Either way, if this fic is supposed to go beyond the prologue, the feedback is crucial. I only have the prologue written out, and I won't continue this fic if it's not wanted.

All characters in this story belong to the genius who created Yu-Gi-Oh!

The plot (of the prologue) belongs to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery".

* * *

This particular morning of late June, Serenity sat overlooking the bay from a cliff. 

She could hear little children running amongst the rural dirt roads of the town, excited and collecting stones. She, however, found no excitement in such an event. That was why every last Monday of the month, Serenity sat on the same rock on the same cliff that was perched over the bay.

"Serenity?" Tristan Taylor called, his footsteps running down the small slope of the cliff. "It starts in about 10 minutes," He said quietly as his shadow loomed over Serenity's sitting figure. Her silence meant nothing to him, for this was where she sat every time the Lottery was conducted, refusing to gather rocks.

Serenity cocked her head to the side without looking at Tristan. She pointed her fingers in the shape of a gun towards the rising sun before her.

"When the sun just reaches over that mountain across the bay," she said quietly, "you know it's coming…just when it starts looking nice outside."

Tristan smiled, paying no attention to what she said. He had gotten used to her opinions a long time ago, and now talk like this was often expected out of her. He crouched down to her level and out a hand on her shoulder. "Come on."

"I hate it," She simply responded, her eyes never leaving the water.

"You say that every month."

"Doesn't mean it's not true." She sighed. She gave Tristan her hand, and he quickly stood up and pulled her up with him.

As they started walking up the cliff, Serenity squeezed Tristan's hand. "I have faith in you."

They walked along the unpaved roads that lines the forests of the town. Small children raced on either side of the two, and as Serenity watched the little kids, she remembered how she got there.

She was adopted, and that's all she knew. Her birth mother had named her Serenity, and then she put her up for adoption. Then Serenity's adoptive mother found her at an orphanage and instantly fell in love with the charming baby. And so Serenity was raised in this village, although she knew from once seeing her birth record that she was born in a different town. Her adoptive mother had engaged her to the young Taylor boy when Serenity was hardly five years old, and then shortly after, her mother died of some sort of unnamed disease. From then on, Serenity had been living with her fiancé's family, hoping to be married on her eighteenth birthday, which was little more than two months away.

What Serenity always thought about on this day was _why_ her biological mother put her up for adoption. Nobody had ever explained that to her…and she knew she would never find out, but that was the reason she constantly thought about it.

"Hey," Tristan cooed to his fiancée as he grabbed her hand more tightly. "Don't look so upset. I've been in the lottery for almost two years now and never have I ever gotten the wrong slip."

Serenity kept her eyes on the village square that was appearing before her like a little row of painted houses above the forest's trees. "I am not worried about your competence," she assured. "I just wish this wouldn't happen. You do agree, don't you?"

Tristan nodded his head slowly but Serenity didn't look up to see his answer. She knew already what he thought of the Lottery from the stones that filled his pockets.

As the two approached the village square, now filling with the population of the town, Tristan's father quickly ushered the two into the crowd.

"You're late," he told the two. "They've already started calling the names."

"Azerforth…Bailey…Benson," Old Man Warner called, the eldest in the town, called. Serenity watched woefully as young men with those last names went up on the stage and took a piece of paper. She especially looked upset when she saw the Benson boy go up, for she had went to school with him.

They women watched tentatively as the men in the family and all boys sixteen or older started filing onto the large wooden stage in the middle of the square. Tristan's mother, Serenity's soon to be mother-in-law smiled weakly at Serenity. Whether or not they would live to tell about this day was a matter up to Tristan and his father.

'Taylor," Old Man Warner called from the stage. Tristan hugged Serenity before he and his father pushed through the crowd and reached the stage.

"This would be the seventy-seventh year I'm in the Lottery," Old Man Warner said as he held open a wooden black box in his hands. "Seventy-seven years."

"Quiet, Warner," Mr. Taylor muttered under his breath as he pulled out a folded piece of paper from the black box. Tristan did the same and the two men took their place in a line on the stage. Old Man Warner called his own name and pulled out a piece of paper from the box, then placed the box on a nearby stand for now all the names had been called.

A moment of silence passed before Old Man Warner said, "Now on the count of three, men, open those papers. Ready now? Ok…1..."

A murmur of worries spread throughout the crowd of women in the audience. The mothers and sister held their young siblings' hands tightly as they watched their husbands and fathers and brothers stand solemnly.

"…2..."

"Please, don't let it be Mr. Taylor or Tristan," Serenity breathed as she started to bite her fingernails. The children around her fidgeted with the stones in her hands impatiently, yearning for the chance to throw them.

"I've heard some towns have given up on the lottery," Mrs. Taylor whispered to Serenity from behind her.

"What I wouldn't give to live there," Serenity said in an even more inaudible pitch.

"…3.…"

All whispers in the crowd ceased as the men on the stage looked at their papers. Almost all of them instantly smiled as they held up pieces of paper that were completely blank and showed them to the crowd proudly.

A wave of relief swept over the wives, sisters and mothers in the crowd as they saw their men hold up the blank piece from the stage. Serenity felt a smile form across her lips as Tristan waved a blank paper to her like a flag from the stage.

"He's not showing me his paper," Mrs. Taylor said quietly.

"Who, Tristan?" Serenity asked, still smiling, and not looking at anyone but Tristan.

"No," Mrs. Taylor answered.

On the stage after he had shown Serenity his paper, Tristan looked to his father.

"Another Lottery that went well," He said to his father. Mr. Taylor did not respond. He still had his paper in his hands, crunched in his fists.

"It's Taylor," the crowd and the men whispered. "He's got it."

"Taylor," Old Man Warren said as he approached him, "Everyone else's shown me there's. Show me the paper."

Mr. Taylor hesitantly held out the crumpled piece of paper to Warren. It was crumpled, but the black dot on it was still visible enough to the men on the stage. Tristan sighed, trying to hide his fear.

"Oh God," Serenity and Mrs. Taylor gasped. Women in the crowd behind them shoved them towards the stage, and Mrs. Taylor and Serenity were too numb to even notice what was happening to them. As they were pushed forward, they heard women whisper to them, "Take your time in choosing."

"Who's your family?" Warren asked Mr. Taylor.

"Well," Mr. Taylor answered at length, "there's my wife and me, and Tristan…and his fiancé, but does Serenity have to choose with us?" Mr. Taylor asked, trying to save Serenity from the second part of the Lottery.

"She has no other family, I'm afraid," Warren said quietly. "She has to come with you."

In a matter of moments all the men (except Tristan and Mr. Taylor) had cleared the stage and Serenity and Mrs. Taylor had come onto it. Old Man Warren brought out a new, smaller box from the small table adjacent to the stage.

"Ok, now, I reckon you all know how this works by now. When you take a piece of paper, don't open it. When I give the signal, then look. And you know the rest…" Old Man Warren said as the four of them (Tristan's parents and Tristan and Serenity) took an even smaller and more folded piece of paper from the box.

"Ok, now…You all have one, right? Good. There's no point in stalling any further." Warren ran a nervous finger through his white hair. "Open you papers."

Mr. Taylor tediously opened his and felt relieved: his paper was blank.

Mrs. Taylor ripped open hers, but her paper was blank. She looked over at her husband, and his paper was blank. Now she truly felt like crying: This could only mean Tristan or Serenity got the cursed paper. She looked to her left where her son stood on the stage, and she saw that his paper was also blank.

"It's Serenity," Warren mumbled, picking up a small pebble that was resting in his pocket.

Sure enough, Serenity looked bitterly at the piece of small white paper in her hands, an ugly black dot square in the middle of the paper. All around her, Tristan and his family surrounded her, hugging her and telling her that they loved her so much.

"I didn't want it to be you," Mrs. Taylor said as she squeezed Serenity for the last time. Mr. Taylor patted Tristan on the back, but Tristan just looked blankly at Serenity, wondering if all this was a dream.

Serenity was furious.

Serenity stuffed the piece of paper into her pocket and walked backwards on the stage, away from Tristan and his family.

"Stay back," she said threateningly. Now others people, men, women and children, crawled onto the stage.

"Serenity," Mrs. Taylor pleaded, advancing towards the girl. "You have to face this like an adult--"

"--no, I don't. And stay back," Serenity interjected, but all the people kept coming more towards her. She was at the edge of the stage, and the townspeople kept filing and crowding onto it. She felt a pebble hit her feet.

They're starting, she thought, panicking. Truly, the more she moved back more pebbles and small stones started flying at her.

Within seconds, tears came out of her eyes. Stones were flying here and there at her, and she could do nothing but pathetically shield her face with her hands as the town threw more stones at the rest of her body. In one final attempt, Serenity, without looking, jumped off the stage. She felt as if she were moving faster than light itself. She darted into the forest that was connected to the village square as she heard the townspeople scream, "After her!"

She dashed through the trees she had explored when she was younger, careful not to trip for one loss of footing in this situation could cause her her life.

Through the trees in front of her, she saw the cliff she had been sitting not more than twenty minutes ago.

Dammit, she thought. Once she got onto the precipice, she would be trapped by the water and the mob that was still peppering her with stones.

Once she rushed out of the forest, she could feel more stones hit her back when the villagers ran out of the forest.

She turned to face them, her hands now somewhat covering her face. In a desperate attempt to beg for her life, she tried to speak, but someone in the crowd (her hands prevented her from seeing who it was) threw something much bigger than just an ordinary stone at her hand. She screamed in pain as she brought her hand down and saw that her left hand had been badly bruised by a large, heavy rock that now lie on the ground beside her feet. Her face was now open and defenseless, and as soon as Serenity realized this, she backed up farther on the cliff, coming dangerously to its end.

"This is madness!" Serenity cried as the crowd was upon her. But they wouldn't listen. All they could do was come closer to her, more pebbles and stones lunging at her.

"This isn't right! This isn't fair!"

That was the last thing Serenity remembered screaming, for as the words escaped her mouth, she felt something--something hard--slam against her head. She hadn't seen it coming, and even if she had, she would not have had the time to block it.

The stone that had hit her head this time sent her flying backward, and since she was on a cliff, the only backwards was down.

She didn't even have time to scream, just open her eyes widely as she lost her footing and did somewhat of a back flip off the precipice.

There was a wave of silence amongst the crowd after they had seen her fall. They listened quietly, and they heard a solid splashing sound. Serenity had fallen into the bay.

The townspeople, led by Tristan and his family, went to the edge of the cliff. They stood there for what seemed like hours, just staring at the water, completely absent-minded while Old Man Warner repeatedly said, "She was a good girl."

* * *

"Poke her." 

"No, you poke her."

"I don't want to poke her. She might be dead."

"And you think I'm some sort of necrophiliac?"

"Then what should we do with her?"

"Well, I have not the faintest clue. Maybe we should wash her. She smells of cod."

"Maybe she smells because she's dead."

"Good point. Do you think we should check her pulse?"

"No! If I'm not going to poke her, what makes you think I'll check her pulse?"

"Well, we carried her in all the way from the bay…why can't we touch her now?"

"Hmm…good question. Ok, fine…let's poke her--I mean check her pulse."

Serenity's eyes fluttered as she watched two girls fight over her body. She was laid on some sort of platform and the girls were hovering on either sides of her, pointing fingers at each other. They seemed to be so obsessed with their arguments that they didn't even notice when Serenity asked, "Who are you?"

A few minutes passed when one of them jumped back and pointed her finger straight at Serenity. "Oh my gosh! _She's moving_!"

The other girl looked at Serenity and widened her eyes so that matched the scale of a dinner plate. "Oh my…"

Serenity plopped herself up on the table as her eyes regained their focus. She looked at the two girls, dressed in maids' dresses. Then Serenity looked at her surroundings, a small yellow room with tables with piles of clothes on them, mostly linens and tablecloths. Then Serenity looked down at what she was sitting on: A rectangular ironing board with all the clothes pushed into one massive corner so that Serenity had enough room to lie down.

One of the maids came up to Serenity tentatively, as if unsure about Serenity's mental condition. "Umm…Ma'am? Why were you in the bay?"

"The bay?" Serenity asked as she squinted her eyes. It was then that she realized she had been wet this whole time. Her clothes were dark and saggy, and her hair smelled like salt and was heavy with water and tangles.

"Yes, ma'am," the order maid answered as she stepped up. "You were drifting in the water this morning. A fisherman found your body near his boat and brought you to the coast and the nearest house, which is here, I suppose."

Oh god, Serenity thought as she placed her moist fingers to her lips, _I survived the Lottery._ She felt warmth fill her eyes, but she had no idea why she was crying. This was not a joyous occasion, nor was this an occasion meant for mourning: she survived the Lottery!.

, Serenity thought as she placed her moist fingers to her lips, She felt warmth fill her eyes, but she had no idea why she was crying. This was not a joyous occasion, nor was this an occasion meant for mourning: she survived the Lottery!. 

"Please," she little more than whispered, "please _tell_ me that no one else knows I'm here?" She sounded desperate, for she knew if the village found out she was alright, they would track her down.

The maids both shook their heads in unison. "We're sorry, ma'am," they responded simultaneously. One of the maids reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a piece of crumpled, wet, white paper. When she unfolded the paper, Serenity saw the large black dot on it and felt like throwing up with disgust. The maids must have searched her pockets for identification or something. "You're not from around here, are you ma'am?" which was just a polite way of asking "you're from that town, aren't you?".

Serenity felt her lips trembling. "No," she answered at length. "Who else knows I'm here?"

"The masters of the house," one of the maids answered quietly.

"Who are they?" Serenity asked undecidedly.

As if on cue, an answer immediately came to Serenity from a raven-haired boy standing in the doorway.

"Us," the adolescent answered. Serenity whipped her head at him, wondering how long he had been standing there. This young boy, he seemed innocent…young…he was the head of a house? But then again, the boy had answered 'us'…_plural_…So then who was the other head?

But again, her answer came too quickly. As soon as Serenity had taken in the young boy, another male stepped into the doorway from behind the young boy. He was much taller, and from his body language, he just _seemed_ like an edgy person. He had much lighter hair than the young boy, much more brown. And his eyes….they were so big and blue, like the bay…a sight Serenity never wanted to see again.

"Well, I guess you were right, Mokuba. So there _was_ a washed up girl on the bay this morning…why is she here again?" he was leaning against the doorway as if he had many more important things to be doing than coming here to see Serenity.

"Seto!" the young boy, whom Serenity considered to be called Mokuba responded to the elder.

"What?" Seto asked lazily as he looked up at the maids.

Then it hit him…that piece of paper the maid was holding…no…it couldn't be…

Seto's eyes lowered into frustrated slits. For the first time in a very long time, he was confused. "When you said you weren't from here," he started to say, speaking directly to Serenity, "you mean you're from across the bay, aren't you?"

Serenity looked him straight in his eyes and it took all of her courage not to cry at the mention of that town. She nodded softly.

"I thought it was a myth," Seto said.

"Obviously, it's not," Mokuba breathed as Serenity started to whimper. "I can't believe you survived. I thought nobody survived." Mokuba was now just as confused as his brother. This girl surely must have had an interesting story to tell.

"Obviously," Seto said quietly, "we have an exception to the case."

* * *

Sorry there wasn't enough Seto/Serenity in this chapter, but trust me, the next chapter is choc full of them.

Well…that's it for now. This was a tester fic. If it's to be continued, I really would appreciate the feedback!

-Celestial Night


	2. Chapter I

So, I've decided that I'm only going to write a chapter at a time for this fic instead of writing a few chapters then submitting one.

I've also decided that I'm going to finish this story before April, when my next fic, "Talk of the Town" comes out. Yes, that means I'm continuing this story, so far, since I got a lot of good feedback.

All main characters in this story belong to the genius who created Yu-Gi-Oh!

Enjoy!

* * *

"What's your name, Miss?" Mokuba asked as he approached Serenity. At the sight of him coming hear her, Serenity reflexively curled up her knees and defended her face with her hands. That was when the bruise on her left arm was noticed by everyone else in the room.

"We have to take you to a doctor," Kaiba said to Serenity, yet said so quietly only he could hear it.

Serenity felt so ridiculous, being frightened by a mere boy, but this was what she was reduced to when the people she loved dearest were the ones striking her with…-

"You," she heard Kaiba say, not sure of who he was speaking to. She moved her hand just in time to see him order the maids to call the medic from some sort of corporation.

"No!" Serenity exclaimed, causing the people in the room to stare, "please, enough people know about me already. I…can't see a doctor," she explained blankly just as the nurses were about to leave the small room.

"Call the doctor, anyway," the elder Kaiba said tersely, and both the maids looked at him suspiciously. "_Now_." And the two maids did small curtsies before scurrying out of the room.

"What if they find out I'm here?" Serenity moaned, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "They _will_ track me down and they _will_ finish me off themselves." Serenity closed her eyes, her vision becoming blurry.

Mokuba and Seto exchanged nervous glances, knowing that she needed help. Mokuba came closer to the small table she was sitting on, and he grabbed her shoulders just in time before she fell on the small table, exhaustion sweeping all over her.

"Serenity," she whispered softly before she fell asleep with Mokuba still holding her shoulders.

"Does that mean she wants to find peace right now?" Mokuba asked Seto quietly.

"No," Kaiba replied. "Serenity is her name."

* * *

It took all the strength Serenity had not to grab her arm back from the doctor as he wrapped her bruised arm. She woke up in a quaint little bedroom, apparently a spare room, when the doctor applied stinging iodine to her injuries.

"Just let me wrap this one more time." the Doctor adjusted the spectacles falling off his nose as he finally cut the last shred from the roll of white cloth. "And there…I was hoping to finish before you woke up," the doctor said distractedly as he placed his supplies back inside his black bag. "But now that you're awake…could I ask how you got such severe lesions?"

Serenity noticed for the first time that both the Kaiba boys were in the room with her, and that both of them had visibly gotten more interested into the conversation right after the doctor asked that question. She felt something heavy around her head, and she noticed that the doctor had wrapped the wound around her forehead intensely.

"It was stupid really," Serenity answered, playing with the sheets around the bed she was lying on. Mokuba, who was sitting on the foot of the bed, looked nervously to his brother who was standing against one of the bed's posters. They both had a strong guess, well, they pretty much knew, as to what happened to her, but they weren't sure if they wanted anyone else to know.

"I work here," Serenity lied, "I'm a maid, you see, and I was carrying a box of cleaners up the stairs when I realized that I left my uniform in my car and forgot to change into it…and so then I turned around, but I must have tripped…and I fell…down the stairs…and yeah--yes, that's why you're here, I suppose." Serenity had never told such a lie in her life. She didn't even know if this house even had a staircase.

"I see," the doctor replied tentatively. "Does her husband know what happened to her?" he asked both Mokuba and Kaiba, nodding towards the ring on Serenity's finger.

It seemed as if Serenity, Mokuba and Kaiba just realized that the ring was there to begin with.

"I'm engaged," Serenity replied shortly, causing both the Kaiba brothers to look at her incredulously.

"And no, her fiancé doesn't know," Kaiba finished for her.

"Well, be sure to inform him then, and Mr. Kaiba, may I have a word?" The doctor asked as he and Seto stepped out into the hallway together.

"Is everything alright, Serenity?" Mokuba asked her, and Serenity spaced back into reality just in time to realize that she had been clutching her sheets with a vice grip. For the first time ever, when Serenity looked back at Mokuba, she didn't have an expression of pain on her face.

"It might just be," she said with a smile.

* * *

"Mr. Kaiba, do you know why I became a doctor?" the man asked as took off his spectacles.

"No," Seto answered, although he really didn't care.

"Well, in this town, it ended before you were probably born," the doctor said, almost humming, as he cleaned his glasses with a handkerchief from his pocket.

"What did?"

"Oh, why, the Lottery of course," the doctor said dispassionately, pushing his glasses up his nose once more.

Seto Kaiba's face scrunched up in confusion. "Domino played the Lottery?" he asked, turning back to the doctor, not believing what he was hearing.

"A little over two decades ago, actually," the doctor explained. "When I saw those people, those defenseless people, my stomach felt sick. I could never pick up a stone and throw it, at anyone. How others could just stand there and watch…Anyway, I became a doctor simply to defy the Lottery, to help and aid people. I remember exactly the way the victims' bodies looked when those savages were done, and I can't help but think that that young girl in there has shockingly similar injuries."

"What are you implying?" Seto asked defensively.

"You tell me." For a second, Kaiba realized the brilliance the doctors could truly have.

"She didn't want anyone else to know what happened," Kaiba little more than whispered so that the doctor could barely hear him.

"I don't know how she survived, and please spare me the details, but that girl needs help! Do you have _any_ idea of what kind psychiatric problems can arise with being tortured in such a vulgar way?" The doctor whispered in an excruciating voice. "That girl's life will never be the same again." The doctor finally regained his calmness and quietly walked past Kaiba.

"Good day, Mr. Kaiba," he said before he left down the stairs, although for Kaiba, it had seemed anything but.

* * *

Seto quietly crept open the door of the room Serenity was currently residing in, his face completely blank and still.

"Seto…umm…we have a small problem," Mokuba explained as soon as the elder Kaiba walked into the room. Mokuba was now standing, wringing his hands nervously as Serenity paced around her bed, whispering inaudibly to herself.

"She wants to go back," Mokuba whispered to Seto as the two brothers watched the girl.

Serenity stopped pacing as she was mentioned. She looked both boys in their eyes, her breathing shallow. "No, I need to go back." She came up to Kaiba and held up her left hand to his face so that he could get a good view of her ring. "I might not be alone in this world. If Tristan knew that I was alive--"

"You need help, Serenity." Kaiba had never used her name before, but he couldn't think of anything else to call her as he repeated the doctor's words.

Serenity, completely ignoring Seto's words, continued, now looking at Mokuba instead of Kaiba. "I want to tell him that I'm alive. He'll be so happy! We were destined for each other, and he'll see me and whisk me away where no one will ever be able to hurt me again."

"I don't believe in destiny," Kaiba mumbled so that only he could hear himself.

Mokuba simply shook his head when Serenity looked at him. "Like Seto said, you need help, and we want to help, but taking you back to the town that did _that_ to you doesn't exactly sound safe."

"Please," Serenity begged, "I need to see if at least someone that I care for is on my side."

"How do you know that he wasn't one of the people stoning you?" Seto asked.

"I just _do_. If you want to help me, then you'll take me across the bay."

When silence was their only reply, Serenity spoke: "Fine, I don't need you help!" She started marching past Kaiba toward the door when he grabbed her hand and held her back.

"You're not going--"

Serenity moaned.

"--alone."

* * *

Serenity's face looked so different with hope on it, Mokuba noticed as the Kaiba brothers and Serenity rode through the woods in Kaiba's limo. Mokuba had been sitting across from Serenity whereas Seto was sitting diagonally to her.

By now, it had become evening, and as the trio sat quietly in the car, Mokuba couldn't help but think it looked like they were driving through a scene in a horror movie.

Mokuba wasn't the only Kaiba boy looking at Serenity. Seto couldn't help but see the ghostly way the shadows on the tree branches hit Serenity's face as the moon struck her with its ethereal glow. She looked transparent, something Kaiba found oddly intriguing.

Serenity ran a finger through her newly dried hair, never taking her eyes off the moon that was playing hide and seek through the branches of the forest. She wondered if Tristan would like the dress Kaiba and Mokuba and bought her before they left town. It was blue, a color that Tristan wasn't very fond of, but the dress was pretty and it's skirt felt so soft around Serenity's legs. Tristan preferred Serenity in earthy tones, but when Mokuba had come into her room with the dresses his personal shopper had bought, this blue one was definitely the prettiest.

"A few hours ago, you were worried that other people would find out you were alive, but now, you want to reveal yourself to all those people?" Mokuba asked, keeping his eyes fixed on Serenity's figure.

Serenity looked away from the sky briefly to answer the question, "Today is Tuesday, and Tristan always chops wood for the fire on Tuesday nights," she explained before looking out the window again.

"But shouldn't he be in mourning? Didn't his fiancée _die_ the other day?" Seto asked, skeptical.

"Chopping wood was his way to relieve stress. There's a good chance he's in the field right now." Her eyes never left the sky.

Mokuba decided to give Serenity the benefit of the doubt. Seto, however, was not so optimistic, but nevertheless he remained quiet all throughout the ride.

A half hour later, Serenity ordered the chauffeur to stop the vehicle. The limo was parked behind a run down, wooden picket fence. The night had become so dark that the silhouette of a shack at least 200 feet from the fence could lightly be made out. Even harder to notice was the form of a human moving just beyond the shack.

"This is the Taylor family farm," Serenity said so quietly that the Kaiba brothers had to strain their ears to hear her. Her eyes were locked on the moving shape. "And that figure down there is Tristan." Without thinking, she jiggled open the door of the car, but before she could get out, she felt a hand around her wrist.

"You're going out there alone?" Mokuba asked, tightening his grip on her hand. "The whole reason Seto and I came out here was to make sure nothing happened to you!"

"But Tristan's here! I have nothing to worry about!" Serenity exclaimed.

"Or so you think," Kaiba pointed out. "He could have been one of the people stoning you! You're just going to walk out there and expect things to go happily ever after?"

Serenity finally jerked away her hand from Mokuba. She bowed slightly. "Thank you for all that you have done for me, but I am finally at home now." She gave the brothers one last look before closing the door and running down the field.

Mokuba and Seto knew that if they called out her name, she would be exposed, so they kept quiet as they watched her run.

"Do you think she knows what she's getting herself into?" Mokuba asked, his eyes glued to the limo's window.

"Keep your eyes on her," was Seto's only response.

* * *

Tristan must not have heard Serenity running across the field. His back was to her and the sounds of the ax slashing the wooden logs blocked out all other sounds in the vicinity.

She took a moment to catch her breath, thinking, what did one say in such a situation. 'Hey, I know you thought I was dead, but you were wrong so here I am!'?

A smile spreading quickly across her features, she breathed, "Tristan!"

Tristan seemed to pause for a moment, put down his ax and wipe the sweat off of his eyebrow. Then he picked up his ax and started on the logs again.

Serenity was confused. She was only a few feet behind him. "Tristan! Tristan!" she called, walking around the log and appearing in front of him. Tristan's eyes looked up at her for a second, then he looked back down.

"No. You're just a ghost. A stupid ghost that won't leave me alone!" he said to Serenity, focusing on the wood.

_He thinks my ghost haunts him! How romantic!_, Serenity thought. She walked up to Tristan, put her hand under his chin and lifted his face so that his eyes were looking directly up at her.

"No, not a ghost," Serenity assured. "It's ok. I'm here, I'm real and this is not a dream."

Meanwhile, the two Kaiba brothers watched, or at least tried to watch through the darkness, the scene unfold.

"If this works out for Serenity, then she and Tristan have a pretty romantic story to tell," Mokuba said. Seto, though, gave no reply, his eyes being occupied by the small silhouette of Serenity so far away.

"No, no," Tristan repeated. He tried to move Serenity's hand from his face, but as soon as he saw and felt her bandages around her wrist, his eyes focused on Serenity's face for the first time since she got here.

"Bandages?" He asked.

"Yes," Serenity answered. She moved her bangs so that Tristan could better see the bandage wrapped around her forehead. "For the injuries that were caused by the Lottery," she assured.

Tristan dropped the ax he was holding and came closer to Serenity. Normally, Serenity would have moved back, but this was Tristan. He put his hands around her shoulders, looking deeply into her hazel eyes. "But..you were supposed to…the Lottery, you got the black piece of paper," he asked more than reminded.

"Yes, I know that Tristan, but when I fell into the bay, by some _miracle_ I survived! We can be together again! You and me, Tristan, it's not over," Serenity told him, holding out her shaking hand against his face, her engagement ring meeting his eyes.

"No, we can't," Tristan told Serenity, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "When I found out you got the black piece of paper, what was I supposed to do? I thought I was never going to see you again, Serenity. I had to, in that moment, cut you out of my life. I did the only thing I could think of…"

"No, Tristan," Serenity pleaded, her voice shaking from the pressure on her shoulders. "Tristan, please don't tell me you were one of the people throwing stones at me." She could not cry, her body was too numb. "Even if you did, just lie and say you didn't, but please don't tell me that you stoned _me_!"

Tristan shook his head. "I only threw one stone at you, Serenity," Tristan explained. "Actually, it was a bit bigger than a stone--"

"--the stone that sent me off the cliff!" He did not have to tell her. "Tristan, no…no, oh gosh no…" And Serenity, the emotional wreck, kept repeating those words to herself for the next few seconds until she realized that she was not safe with this man anymore, and that Tristan's grip was tightening.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," he told her, "Nobody survives!"

"Why is it a bad thing when someone does!" Her voice could not be raised higher than a whisper, but still her life was pouring out with her words. Her hand, still on his cheek, moved away from his face. It seemed as though she would collapse right then and there, but in an instant, her hand flew through the air and hit his cheek with a force so hard that it made Tristan cry out and release Serenity as his hands instinctively felt and massaged his sore cheek.

Serenity did not have to think twice. She started dashing across the field, faster than when she ran threw the forest just one day earlier, feeling more betrayed than ever.

The door to the Kaiba limo flew open for her as she ran up to it. She didn't look back; she jumped onto the floor of the car and Mokuba quickly shut the door while Seto shouted at the driver to go. Though, the car could have taken its time, for Tristan was not chasing Serenity. He simply looked to where she ran, and he noticed the shape of a car drive away.

He was not going to chase her, not yet, not now. Now, he had to perceive the fact that she was still alive.

* * *

She was still bent on the car floor, her hand over her mouth muffling her whimpers.

He could have said, "I told you so." but even he wasn't that heartless.

* * *

Old Man Warner was standing outside his house, breathing in some of the fresh night air, when he saw a black car speed past his house, nearly two feet in front of him.

"Darn teenagers," he cursed, "they have no regard for the speed limit."

* * *

That night, Serenity had fallen asleep without changing her clothes. She did not eat her dinner, although she knew this could not be healthy for she had not eaten in two days.

In the middle of the night, she was awaken by a knock on her door. She jolted upwards.

"Who is it?" she called. It would truly be a miracle if anyone could understand what her feeble voice was saying.

"Serenity?" No…that voice…it was impossible.

"How did you get past security, Tristan?" Serenity asked, jumping out of bed and placing her ear to the door.

"I pleaded to Kaiba, and he understood that I needed to talk to you."

"I don't believe that. You probably snuck in. Leave before I call security!" She cried. Then she felt a push against the door, and was nearly thrown back when Tristan came into the room.

"I was only knocking to be polite," Tristan answered. "I realized you left the door unlocked as soon as I got here." he came towards her while Serenity backed up.

"I swear, if you come any closer--" She was interrupted by his laughter.

"Serenity, you never were good at threats," he said. He kept creeping towards her until he backed her into a wall. There he grabbed her wrists while she tried to fight him of to no avail.

"Get off of me! Get off! Get off! Get off!" She pounded her wrists against Tristan's chest, but Tristan held her wrists even more tightly as a response, laughing.

"Now, Serenity, there's only one thing I have to tell you: WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

Serenity opened her eyes to find that she was indeed still in her bedroom, but she was still sitting on her bed, with her wrists held against Seto Kaiba's chest. He was kneeling in front of her bed, annoyed. Serenity assumed that the only reason he was holding her hands were because she was no doubt, thinking that he was Tristan, thrashing her hands against him.

"I'm sorry, Kaiba," she murmured, "did I wake you?"

He released her wrists and shook his head. "My home office is on this floor. I was trying to get some papers filed, however your incessant screaming kept me from doing my job."

Serenity blushed. "I guess saying that I had a bad dream would be a very severe understatement?"

Kaiba stood up and dusted off the white trench coat that he had been wearing all day. "I came in here because I heard you screaming, and I had to kick open your door since I didn't bring my key with me. Then when I got in here, I saw you shaking like a fish out of water in your bed. I tried to wake you up, but then you started hitting me," he explained, his voice a monotone.

"Sorry about that. But at least you woke me up before I did any damage, right?" Serenity tried to smile as she wiped away a sweatdrop.

Kaiba tried to keep from rolling his eyes as he started to walk through the door.

"Kaiba?" And Seto turned around to face Serenity, still sitting on her bed.

"I…umm really did mean what I said at the car, that I really am grateful for what you did for me," Serenity said, her eyes cast to the floor. "So once again, thank you."

"Did you ever think there was a reason you survived?"

"Of course, although I didn't take you as much of a believer in destiny," she mused.

"I'm not," he replied.

Serenity sighed. "Well, the point is that I'm alive, and aside from these minor injuries, I'm well. That's more than can be said about others who picked the wrong paper during the Lottery. Now all I can do is look ahead. I have no idea where I'm going next."

Kaiba wanted to ask her about the Lottery and about growing up with such a custom, but now was not the time. "One day at a time, I guess." He started to leave and close the door when he heard Serenity's voice.

"I guess," Serenity repeated. "Good night, Kaiba."

Kaiba slightly nodded at her before he closed the door and left Serenity to sleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter I**

* * *

Oh wow…it's finally done.

I hope you guys liked the chapter. I tried to put in as much Seto/Serenity as I could without making it look overstuffed.

Next chapter: Serenity meets Yugi and the gang for the first time.

Now I'm going to thank you reviewers individually, although now I'm nervous because this website put a ban on doing so, but you guys said such nice things I think you deserve a thank you.

**Amarie Miriel-**Thanks for reviewing, and I'm not sure exactly. From what I interpreted, since Tristan isn't married yet and doesn't have a family of his own, he chooses with his father and the rest of his immediate family. Although, these things were never truly clarified in the original "The Lottery," so I'm just assuming.

**ChaosMagicianGirl-**Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the concept.

**Crimson Breeze-**I know, poor Serenity. But things start getting better for her in the next few chapters. Actually, her life gets a lot better. Thanks for taking the time to review. (And don't think I haven't forgotten about the dot dot dot. I just don't feel like doing that right now.)

**Fireflyofhell-**Thanks for reviewing.

**Lady Psychic-**Thanks for taking the time to review and saying I should continue!

**Landi McClellan-**Well, killing certain people isn't exactly what the lottery is for. But you find out more about the Lottery in the upcoming chapters, and you finally learn why it's played soon.

**LazerWulf-**The Lottery will be explained in due time, so just relax. They were only trying to kill Serenity because she drew the wrong piece of paper, but that all has to do with the origins of the Lottery being explained so you'll just have to keep patient.

**Lilxangelxsweetz-**Thanks for the review!

**Losaye Maiden-**Yeah, I know, this Lottery gave me the creeps when I first read the original story by Shirley Jackson. Thanks for the review!

**new blue-**Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad you like the story, and don't worry: the Lottery will be explained soon enough.

**MistressMoonDemon-**Thanks for the review, and when I read "The Lottery" last year (I was also in ninth grade) I was freaked out.

**Revolutionnnaire Rouge-**Thanks for reviewing! Your review was so sweet. Anyway, yeah, "The Lottery" is definitely a story to cringe at.

**Sam-**Yeah, I wanted to see a happy ending for "The Lottery" too. That's partially the reason why I wrote this fic. Thanks for the review!

**Sapphire Dragon-**I'm glad you think the idea rocks. Thanks for the review.

**Shanichan11-**I know, the whole concept behind the Lottery is barbaric and idiotic. But thanks for the review and thinking that the story is kawaii so far.

**SwordPrincess-**Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked the story so far.

**Vespera-**Oh my god, I want to give you all the cookies and brownies that you could possibly eat right now! Your take on my story so far was so perceptive! What you said in your review was exactly what I wanted other readers to pick up in the story: the prologue that reveals a little about the town but not too much, the fact that other people can live with the Lottery whereas Serenity despises it with a passion, why an innocent life is taken, Serenity's new situation with the Kaibas and how Serenity's desperate situation will eventually break through Seto's uninterested exterior (although, I wanted Kaiba to seem interested as soon as he found out where Serenity came from at the end of the prologue). Thank you so much for your discerning review!

And that's all for now! Read/Review please!

-Celestial Night


	3. Chapter II

Thanks for all those who reviewed. I'm sorry, but I should've put this in the first chapter:

A) This story takes place in the 1950s. When I say dresses, I mean those pleated skirts and cupped sleeves all the ladies wore back then.

B) When I said Kaiba's limo in the first chapter, I didn't mean a stretch. I meant a Rolls-Royce.

C) "It's ok. I'm here, I'm real and this is not a dream." That was a line from the previous chapter, and that was a line I quoted from All My Children, just to give credit where it's due.

All characters in this story belong to the genius who created Yu-Gi-Oh!

* * *

Serenity awoke to the soft buzzing of a fan the next morning. She had rolled herself into a fetal position, retrospections of how her life changed running flashing through her eyes.

She blinked a few times before she lifted herself out of bed. She blinked again and rubbed the stinging out of her eyes. She then looked at the electrical fan not more than two feet off of her bed. She was positive that the fan hadn't been there last night, but still, she'd have to make a note of thanking whoever did this for it was very hot in her room.

She stretched herself and then turned off the fan. She looked down at her wrinkled blue dress, the same one she was wearing when she went to see Tristan. Just thinking about Tristan made her walk over to the small armoire in the corner of the guest bedroom. As she scanned the dresses that Kaiba and Mokuba had made their personal shopper get for her, her vision turned to the French door windows of the room. She, not looking at the clothes anymore, pulled out a hanger from the armoire, not caring what dress was on it, and decided that she would wear that outfit today.

But honestly, she couldn't care less about what she was going to wear as she stared out the windows, trying to see past the sheer white curtains that lined them. Her eyes were focused on the bay that looked so beautiful from where she stood.

Her eyes squinted as she shoved her armoire's doors closed. Nobody had to tell her this next part, she had figured it out last night when Tristan rejected her.

Today was the first day of the rest of her life.

* * *

When she arrived freshly showered and dressed a half hour later, she found Mokuba and three new men sitting on the couch in the entryway. Mokuba looked heavily uncomfortable, but Serenity could tell it was because of the three piece suit he was wearing. The three men and Mokuba seemed to be deeply involved in a conversation when Serenity arrived.

"I don't care what ya think, I know that he just isn't _capable_ of affection," A blonde haired man said passionately to Mokuba, who was scratching the back of his neck because of the itchy suit.

"He has good qualities, though," Mokuba answered in between scratches.

"I have to agree with Mokuba, Joey," a small boy, sitting in the corner recliner spoke. When Serenity first saw him, she was most attracted to his hair: Such odd shapes and vivid colors. Though he was a little…vertically challenged…he seemed to be as old as the other two boys sitting there with Mokuba. "I mean, sure Kaiba can be a real umm…-"

"Jerk? Conceited maniac? Egotistical, walkin', talkin' moneybags? I already knew that," the man called Joey responded as he crosses his arms over his chest. "I don't know why we ever thought the girl in the tabloids was his girlfriend. No girl's stupid enough to wanna date him."

"Are you kidding me?" The third man asked. He had black hair and dice hanging from his ears along with piercing facial features. "He has a fan girl club the size of Domino! Of course, he doesn't have nearly as many fan girls as _I _do."

A tumbleweed passed and crickets chirped after the third man made this comment. Then Joey coughed the words, "You keep believing that, Devlin."

Serenity, deciding that she had heard enough of this conversation, cleared her throat and Mokuba immediately turned to look at her, apparently all four boys seeing her for the first time standing there on the last few steps of the foyer.

"Serenity," he said, forgetting about his itchy suit. "Umm…Have you met these three yet?" His head jerked in the direction towards the three men. Serenity shook her head. "Well," Mokuba continued, "they apparently saw you in the tabloids walking with me and Seto to the limo last night when we took our _trip_ through the woods-"

"-and we thought that maybe the great Seto Kaiba had softened up and found himself a lady friend, however, Mokuba has informed us that you're his pen pal from north of here," Devlin finished, jumping up and taking Serenity's hand. "Duke Devlin," he said, lifting her hand to his face and kissing it. "Dungeon Dice Monsters creator and extraordinaire."

"How nice," Serenity said, not having a clue what he was talking about. Mokuba had told them she was his visiting pen pal from the north, which was smart since the town Serenity had come from, the one that played the Lottery, was south of here. However, there was still the issue that her picture was in the tabloid…

"I knew Old Moneybags couldn't love, I just knew it," Joey stood up and shook his head.

"Why do you think that?" Serenity asked curiously, turning her attention to him. Joey looked amusedly at her.

"Why shouldn't I think that?" he replied.

"He's been nothing but cordial to me," Serenity rebutted.

"Obviously, Miss, you haven't been in a room with him for longer than 5 seconds!" Joey exclaimed.

Serenity was about to respond when she felt Duke tugging on her hand. She hadn't realized that he had still been holding it.

"Bandages?" Duke asked, eyeing the cloth wrapped around Serenity's wrist.

Serenity looked at Duke for a moment, remembering that Tristan asked the same exact question last night.

"Y-Yes," She answered at length, staring the man straight in the eyes. "I fell down the stairs when I first got here. I've always been an awfully clumsy person."

"Oh," he said softly, his eyes going back to her hand. "You're married?" Duke asked, staring at the ring on Serenity's finger.

"No." There was no lie there. Serenity took back her hand and slipped off her ring. She put it into her dress pocket. "It is my mother's ring, an heirloom I suppose."

"We should be going," the little boy said as he stood up. "Mokuba, it was nice seeing you again. Nice to meet you, err ..Serenity." The three men were about to head for the door when Mokuba responded.

"Hold on, Yugi," Mokuba called, playing with his uncomfortable tie. "I haven't had a chance to show Serenity around town yet, and I have this really important meeting to get to which I'm already late for, so I was hoping…" Mokuba seemed to trail off.

"We'd be glad to," Duke and Yugi responded in unison while Joey rolled his eyes.

"Then why don't the three of you get into the car. I have to speak to Serenity for a minute," Mokuba said. The three men agreed and left through the front doors. As soon as Mokuba was sure that they were not in the hearing range, he dragged Serenity to a couch and sat down with her.

"I know you're worried about the tabloid thing," Mokuba spoke before Serenity could say anything. "But don't worry. As soon as I found out that the press got pictures of you, I called the newsstand and ordered every tabloid in the town, just to make sure."

"You didn't have to do that, Mokuba," Serenity assured. "But thank you. You've done so much for me."

"Glad to do it," he answered. "I hope you have fun today with Yugi and the guys. They're really nice people."

"But why does the blonde one-"

"-Joey."

"Yes, him. Why does he hate your brother?"

Mokuba sighed. "Long story. Let's just say that Seto never really gave Joey the respect he deserved."

"I find that hard to believe," Serenity responded.

"Seto's not exactly a people person," Mokuba answered.

"But he's been nice to me so far."

"Well, you're a unique case."

* * *

There was an obvious tension in the car as Joey drove down the streets of Domino. Yugi and Duke were happily showing Serenity their favorite places, however, Joey had yet to say a word. Yugi was sitting beside him in the passenger seat. Duke and Serenity were seated in the back row of the powder blue car.

"And that's the ice cream parlor, my favorite," Yugi pointed out, "and that's the pizza parlor. Ooh…that's the fried chicken place…and hey! That's the Chinese take out place! Boy, we sure have a lot of food places in this town."

"Or maybe you're neglecting to mention all the highlights of the town," Duke reminded. "Like that, the waterfall," Duke pointed out as he looked out his window. The car was crossing over a bridge, and there was a hill at one end of the bridge that had water softly trickling off of its precipice. And that's the hill where the starflowers bloom every time there's a full moon." Duke pointed out Serenity's window to a hill far in the distance.

"Oh, how romantic!" Serenity cried.

"There are no starflowers in Domino," Yugi said. "And that hill is the one that overlooks the dump!"

"Shut up!" Duke exclaimed. "Can't you see the lady thinks it's romantic!"

And thus Serenity rolled her eyes as Yugi and Duke bickered the rest of the way to wherever Joey was driving, until, however, the car drove past the bay.

"What's that town?" Serenity asked, wanting to know what others thought about the village across the bay.

"That," Joey said, talking for the first time, "is a nightmare come to life." Serenity didn't have to hear anymore as she rubbed her bandaged wrist.

About ten minutes after the hill incident, Joey pulled up in a diner's parking lot. "You wanna stay in the car?" he asked Serenity as he unbuckled himself.

"Why would she want to do that?" Duke asked, getting out his door. Serenity stepped out of the car and looked at the diner: metal linings going across the small building with large, glowing red letters that read "Domino Diner" on the roof.

"No reason," Joey mumbled, thinking he was speaking to himself, yet Yugi, Duke and Serenity both stared at him as he got out of the car.

Joey stomped into the diner, followed by Yugi, then Duke, and finally Serenity holding up the rear. As soon as they walked in, a waitress roller bladed to the group, holding two large trays in her hands with some sodas on them.

"Hey, guys!" She exclaimed, trying to shake some of her brown bangs out of her hair. "Hold on a sec, just let me deliver these, I'll be right with you."

"Alright, Téa," Joey replied as the waitress roller bladed past them to a booth at the far end of the diner. Joey, Yugi and Duke walked up to a blonde woman, watching Joey and the guys, who was sitting at the counter, sipping a vanilla milkshake.

"Hey, Mai," Joey said as he approached the girl. Serenity tilted her head so that she could get a good look at this girl. This Mai girl, as Joey called her, was indeed very pretty. She had corn-colored ringlets so round and shiny, Serenity was left in awe at the sight of them. The girl also wore a purple dress with a lavender sweater tied over her shoulders that brought out her equally lavender eyes.

"Hello, Joseph," she replied before returning to her milkshake. Just as her lips touched the straw, she noticed the small, timid girl standing beside Duke. "And who is this sweet little thing?" Mai asked as she got off of her stool. She walked over to Serenity, and Serenity was sure this woman was going to pinch her cheeks. But instead, Mai placed her hand under Serenity's chin and lifted her face. "Why, what pretty little green eyes you have."

"Thank you," Serenity responded.

"So what's a cute little girl like you hanging out with these guys?" Mai asked, smiling at Joey and the other two.

"She's the girl that was in the tabloids with Kaiba," Duke explained. "Apparently, she's staying at the Kaiba Mansion."

"You're Kaiba's girlfriend?" Mai asked, her face skeptical.

"No," Duke supplied quickly. "Serenity's Mokuba's pen pal."

"I have a pen pal, too," Téa said as she roller bladed back to the others, setting her trays down on the counter. "Where are you from, Serenity?"

"North," Serenity responded simply.

"Are you hungry, Serenity?" Téa asked. The truth was, Serenity only had a small glass of water yesterday and she hadn't even eaten the day the Lottery took place. She was sick from not eating, so she nodded her head.

"Great! The diner cooks make the best pancakes!" Téa exclaimed. "I'll be right back," she said, roller blading off to tell the cooks to make a fresh stack.

"Oh, but I didn't bring any money with me," Serenity said.

"That's ok, Joseph will be happy to pay for you," Mai assured. "After all, you are our guest here in Domino."

"That's ok," Serenity replied. "I really wasn't all that hungry." Serenity raised both her hands in front of her and shook them, gesturing to Mai not to make Joey pay. Joey, ready to protest, stared for a split second at Serenity's arm. Just above where her forearm met her elbow on her right arm, there was a small brown dot, no bigger than a nickel, that, if one squinted, they would see the small outline of a heart.

Joey's eyes immediately cast downward, thousands of thoughts flooding his mind. He looked back up at Serenity, eyeing her features more carefully, as if meeting her all over again.

"It's ok, Mai, I'll pay for her. And I won't take no for an answer…Serenity," Joey said just as Serenity started to object.

* * *

Mrs. Taylor put a hand over her face, hoping that if she wished hard enough, this nightmare would just end.

"Please, Tristan, it's been a hard couple of days for all of us, but she's not alive!" Mr. Taylor said for the hundredth time that day. Ever since last night when Tristan had come in saying "She's alive," Mr. And Mrs. Taylor had been hovering over him, worrying that Serenity's death had taken a mental impact on Tristan.

"No, why won't any of you believe me! She was there, she had bandages, she said she survived, it was a miracle…" and Tristan was continually repeating all that he remembered about Serenity from last night. However, every time he got anxious, Mr. Taylor would push him back onto his bed and tell Tristan to get some rest.

"Oh, Tristan," Mrs. Wheeler said, heartbroken, "please, just stop talking like this!" She paced around Tristan's bedroom, wondering what to do, whether she should check Tristan into a hospital or something. As she was thinking, there was a knock on the door.

Mrs. Taylor ran down the stairs and opened the door to find Old Man Warner standing there, panting.

"I came here as soon as I heard," he said. "Where's Tristan?"

"In his room," Mrs. Taylor said, ushering Warner in. "I'm starting to worry over what he's been saying."

"You don't believe it, do you?" Warner asked.

"Of course not, Warner! You were there, you know there's no way…Well, anyway, let's go see Tristan."

Old Man Warner nodded as he stepped up the stairs with Mrs. Taylor.

"Old Man Warner!" Tristan exclaimed. "Maybe you'll believe me! My parents think I've gone crazy!"

"What happened last night, Tristan?" Warner asked, stepping closer to Tristan's bed.

"Well," Tristan started, "I was cutting wood, right, trying to forget about what happened to Serenity because her ghost had been haunting me all day. So then I heard her voice call my name, and I didn't look at her because, well, I thought she was a ghost. But then she touched me, and she felt so real, and she told me that she survived, and that it was a miracle. But then I told her that she shouldn't be alive, and then she got all freaked out and slapped me!"

"He's in denial," Warner told the Taylors. "Just make sure he gets plenty of rest. I've seen this happen before tons of times." Warner was about to leave when he heard Tristan shout.

"--and then she drove off in a black limo!" Warner turned around and faced Tristan, looking him straight in the eye.

**Flashback**

Old Man Warner was standing outside his house, breathing in some of the fresh night air, when he saw a black car speed past his house, nearly two feet in front of him.

"Darn teenagers," he cursed, "they have no regard for the speed limit."

**End Flashback**

"You sure about that, boy? She left in a black limo, last night?" Warner asked.

"Yes!" Tristan exclaimed.

"I see," Warner spoke to himself.

"What is it, Warner?" Mr. and Mrs. Taylor asked.

"Oh, nothing," Warner said. "Like I told you, make sure he gets rest." And with that said, Warner walked out of Tristan's room and down the stairs and out of the house. As he started walking down the dirt roads of the town, he thought to himself, '_You were always one to hate the Lottery, Serenity. I just didn't know the lengths you'd go to avoid it.'_

* * *

Mokuba and Seto Kaiba stared in astonishment at the five men sitting across from them.

"You can't be serious," Kaiba said. "There's no way I'm giving up my company!"

"Yeah, Seto's the reason KaibaCorp's where it is today. It was going nowhere as a tank building corporation!" Mokuba yelled.

"We're sorry, Mr. Kaibas," Johnson the lawyer said as he started to shuffle the papers in front of him into a neat pile, "but we have been serious for the past two hours. Gozaburo Kaiba made it clear in his will that he wanted only a child _born_ a Kaiba to inherit the corporation. If you can't supply him with a Kaiba by the time you're twenty one," Johnson smirked, looking straight at Kaiba, "you must forfeit the title as CEO to us."

"There's no way I'm giving the product of my hard work to you because of a demented man's will!"

"Well, we're afraid you have no choice," Nezbit snickered. Mokuba ordered the Big 5 to leave the KaibaCorp boardroom while Seto gritted his teeth.

Within a few moments, when the five men had shuffled out, Seto turned to his brother, who was sitting beside him at the end of the long, éclair-shaped table.

"What are we going to do, Mokuba?" Seto asked. "I doubt there's a loophole to this rule. Gozaburo was too cynical to let there be a loophole."

'There's still two years before you're 21st birthday, Seto. Maybe in that time, you could find a wife and an heir-"

"No."

"Well, I'm too young to have a kid, Seto!"

"No."

"Is that all you're gonna say when the Big 5 takes KaibaCorp from us two years from now."

Silence.

"Well, Seto?"

"I-I don't know, Mokuba," Kaiba responded, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

* * *

**End of Chapter II**

* * *

Well, it's done! I'm so glad I got it done in a day, that's like a new record for me.

I would reply to all the reviewers individually, but now I definitely know that this site banned individual reviews. So, either sign in and I'll reply to your reviews through the new Review Reply system (thanks to LazerWulf for telling me about this) or just include your e-mail so I can e-mail you back a reply.

I can't tell you what's going to happen in the next chapter since I didn't even plan for this fic to go this far, but don't worry: I have all the important details worked out.

Hopefully, this was a very revealing chapter. I let three new plots introduce themselves in this chapter.

R/R please!

-Celestial Night


	4. Chapter III

So yes, I am finally updating! I'll cut these notes short and say that I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

And yes! I don't have any homework tonight, so I'm making it a point to submit this thing tonight.

* * *

"I didn't know you had a puppy!" Serenity cried as she watched Mokuba play with the little brown and white dog.

"I hate that dog," Kaiba replied simply, causing Serenity to turn and look at him in confusion. "I told Mokuba to get a dog because I thought it would help him build stamina and responsibility. When he came home from the pet store, however, he had _that_."

"But he's adorable! What's his name?"

"…Peewee.."

"I see," Serenity mumbled under her breath. "Well, I know if I were a girl Mokuba's age, I'd love to get close to a guy with such a cute little puppy," Serenity assured Kaiba. "Maybe that's what Mokuba had in mind when he bought the puppy."

"I doubt it."

Serenity sighed. "You didn't like the picnic very much, did you?" Kaiba turned around to see the table he and Serenity had been sitting at. He didn't even realize that there was food there. Thoughts of the meeting he and Mokuba had earlier that day were occupying his mind.

Serenity stared around at her surroundings. At the moment, she and the Kaiba brothers had been sitting in the backyard of the mansion, enjoying the lulling of the summer breezes. Serenity came back from the diner to find Seto and Mokuba acting rather strangely and stiff, so she recommended a picnic in the backyard to get their spirits up. Obviously, to no avail. Mokuba had just brought out the small dog from inside the mansion and he went off playing with Peewee near the bay, leaving Serenity and Kaiba alone.

"Why were you two so upset?" She asked quietly when she saw Mokuba run farther away with the puppy.

Kaiba raised his eyebrow and feigned surprise. "Upset? I didn't think I was acting any differently."

Serenity kept from rolling her eyes. "When I came home you two were acting so shady I could have cut the tension with a knife."

Seto's silence prompted Serenity to ask, "Well?"

Kaiba finally looked at her, a smile playing at the side of his lips. "You called the Kaiba Mansion 'home'."

To this, Serenity replied by staring at the bay a few yards in front of her. "I used to stare at this house from the other side of the bay almost every time there was a Lottery. From so far away, I thought that this was a dollhouse. Then I imagined it belonged to some beautiful princess. Never did I think that _I _would ever live here and ever call this place my home."

"And yet here you are," Kaiba reminded.

Serenity looked at Kaiba, and although she noticed the azure colors of his eyes when she first saw him, she never realized how close his eyes came to matching the bay, a thought that made her shiver. She looked away and quickly said, "You two make it easy to call a place home."

♥

Watching dusk come onto the backyard of the Kaiba Mansion was a breathtaking site. The moon, with all its pale allure, caused a blanket of light to sweep the bay as the ripples moved in arbitrary motion. The sky was just starting its transition to darker shades of blues, causing landscaping in the not too far distance to don the masks of silhouettes.

The Kaiba brothers and Serenity were standing on the very brinks of the bay, Serenity taking great precaution not to let a drop of water touch her.

She lifted a finger to the sky, making an oblong semicircle in the air. "That star, I think, is the north half of Corona Austrina, or the Southern Crown, but it's hard to tell since I can only see a few stars."

"Don't waste your time with astronomy. It's pointless, first of all, and you can hardly see stars in this area because of all the lights from the city."

"Some people make careers out of studying stars, Seto," Mokuba reminded.

"But you see, they're not nearly as rich as we are, Mokuba, and we have real jobs running KaibaCorp."

"But they're happy, Seto."

"They are not. They feign happiness so that the _better_ half of the society doesn't feel sorry for them."

"Seto!"

"It doesn't take money to be happy, your brother knows that, so calm down, Mokuba: I think Peewee is trying to get some sleep," Serenity explained as she rocked the sleeping puppy in the cradle of her arms.

"I forgot you had him! Here, I'll take him to his bed," Mokuba said. He took the small animal from Serenity's arms and scurried away toward the manor.

Serenity turned and looked at Seto disapprovingly. "You still haven't answered my question," she reminded with a quiet voice as she went to gather the food off of the table.

"I didn't think we were acting any differently at all, so I don't know where you get the idea from that we're upset," Kaiba insisted, taking the picnic basket from Serenity's hands as he started filling food in it.

"Mokuba told me you usually spend time in your office and that you hardly ever spend time with him, but you spent the whole afternoon with us."

"You've known me for what--2 days?--and you're criticizing my actions? What if I didn't want to work today?"

"Never mind, Kaiba."

♥

As the two of them were walking back towards the house, Serenity thought aloud.

"We had a picnic like this for Tristan's birthday a couple of months ago," she mused, oblivious to the fact that Kaiba was listening.

Kaiba walked past her, holding the basket. As he brushed beyond her, he asked with a monotone, "Why do you still think about him?"

Serenity stopped walking and thought for a second. "Well, he was my first love. How can I forget?" She started walking back towards the house, not realizing that Kaiba was staring at her incredulously.

"How can you still believe in love after what that town did to you?"

"It's not like they didn't love me," Serenity replied. "It's just that they chose culture over love. I think that was the town's greatest downfall."

Again, this was the perfect moment for Kaiba to ask about the Lottery, but he decided against it once again. The two walked back to the house in silence.

"Kaiba, I've been meaning to ask you," Serenity started to say as soon as she got into the house. "About the creature drawn on your bedroom door…"

"The Blue Eyes?" Kaiba asked, sounding disinterested.

"Yeah, that. What is it?" She asked curiously.

The two walked to the kitchen where Seto put down the picnic supplies he was carrying while Serenity eagerly awaited his answer.

"Tell me, Serenity, have you ever heard of Duel Monsters?"

"Is that the game Duke created?"

"No! Devlin created a twisted, sick, and idiotic version of a normally respectable game. Don't ever believe what Devlin has to say about Duel Monsters. He knows nothing about it." And then Kaiba thought. "How do you know Devlin?"

"I spent the day with him, a girl named Téa, another girl named Mai, a boy named Yugi, I think, and Joey Wheeler," Serenity explained.

"You spent the day with _them_? Why?"

"They seemed like nice people," Serenity said. "I think I might have actually made friends in this town. That's a start, right?"

Kaiba grunted. "You'd probably fit right in with them, now that I think about it."

"That's not something to be ashamed of, I think," Serenity mumbled.

"You just wait. Their sweetness is going to make you sick one day, and you're going to come back to me and say, 'Kaiba, you were right, they are a bunch of moronic losers!'," Kaiba enlightened.

To this, Serenity just yawned and smiled. "I don't think that's true. Good night, Kaiba."

He grunted in reply as Serenity walked out of the kitchen and back to her bedroom.

♥

As Serenity changed the bandages around her wrist, she looked out at the bay through her window.

How could she have survived a fall so lethal? And then, to top that off, she actually spent the night unconsciously drifting through its waters and came out of that alive as well.

And still, she feared those waters. They looked sparkly now because of the sliver of light reflected by the crescent moon, but all Serenity saw was the murky waves that almost were the death of her.

But she kept thinking to herself, she survived. Something that had never been accomplished before.

But why her?

What purpose did she have for staying alive?

She then decided it was foolish to fear those waters.

♥

Téa was so bored tonight. After working all day at an extremely busy diner, one would think she was tired, however, she was just the opposite.

At least she made a new friend today.

Téa lazily walked up to her front porch and opened her mailbox. She grabbed the bundle of letters in the box then went inside.

She flipped through the mail. "Bill…Bill…I've already been approved to win a million dollars…bill…what?"

She found a latter addressed to her, written in very sloppy script.

"It's from my pen pal!" She exclaimed, obviously excited that something out of the ordinary occurred today.

She sat down on her couch and tossed away all the other mail. She ripped open the envelope and started to read.

_Dear Téa,_

_Sorry I haven't written to you lately. I've been kind of busy helping my parents around with the farm. _

_Anyway, I'm getting a lot of rest these days, and I think I need it since I haven't been having the best couple of days. A couple of days ago, my fiancée…died. And it's so strange since I keep dreaming of her, you know? Well, maybe you don't. You see, sometimes I swear I saw her and touched her, but my mom and dad think I'm going crazy! I probably am…then again…she was quite the amazing girl…_

_I decided to write to you since staying in bed all day frees up a whole lot of my time. How are you? I got your Christmas card; did you get mine? Well, I have to get to take the sleep medicine my stupid doctor prescribed. I need rest since tomorrow's Serenity's (my fiancée) memorial service. Hopefully I'll write to you soon. _

_-Tristan_

Téa read and re-read the letter, examining its contents and nearly burning a hole in the paper with the weight of her stare.

_Didn't she just meet a girl today named Serenity? _This was just a small thought at the back of Téa's mind.

"It was…just a coincidence," she told herself, getting up to make herself a cup of tea.

-

-

It was late at night when Seto Kaiba looked away from his files to see what the source of the splash was. When he looked out his window, he saw that someone, or some sort of large _thing_, was in the bay. At the moment, all he saw was a silhouette. However, after a few seconds of straining his eyes, he saw that it was a girl splashing around in the bay.

"What is she doing out there?" he muttered under his breath as he walked out of his office.

-

-

Serenity splashed the waters around her, feeling a heavy weight lift off her shoulders as she did so. The water came just beneath her knees, just enough room for her to move around comfortably. For the past few days, she had feared the sight of the bay, but now that she stepped back into its tepid waters and felt the ripples form against her, she wondered how she could ever be so silly.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked so angrily that the warm waters of the bay suddenly felt like ice. Serenity looked to the bank and saw Kaiba standing there looking extremely impatient with her. How long had he been standing there? No matter. Serenity didn't care that much after all anyway.

"Look, Kaiba! I'm not afraid of the water anymore!" she exclaimed, splashing more water around herself.

He kept his arms crossed against his chest, oblivious to what an accomplishment this was for her. Serenity shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Kaiba, did I wake you?" she asked at length. She took his silence as a 'no', because truly, she didn't care. She was too caught up in her own moment to-

"Oww!" she squealed. Something bit her foot, she could feel it. Immediately Kaiba broke out of his anger and looked at her nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"Something _bit_ me!" she explained with a voice that said it was the most obvious thing in the world. She suddenly gasped. "Are there …crocodiles in this area?" she asked tentatively.

"No," Kaiba responded dully. "Get out of the water."

"I can't risk moving when there's a croc around!"

"There is no 'croc'. And besides, you're two feet away from the bank. You could probably jump over here."

She squealed again. Something bit her other foot this time.

"Gimme your hand!" she told Kaiba, stretching out her arm. Whatever was in the water was truly frightening her.

"Why?" Serenity cringed as she saw a figure move underneath the water's surface.

"So that you can pull me back to the bank," she said quietly, trying not to arouse the monster that was beneath the waters.

He finally gave in to her pleas and outstretched his hand. Just as they were about to grab each other, something jumped out of the water.

It's furry outline whipped water into both their faces, and while Kaiba stood there apathetically, Serenity's lips curled into a smile. After a few seconds, she started giggling uncontrollably, prompting Kaiba to ask, "What's with you?"

A few seconds passed before she regained her self, almost keeling over in the water with laughter.

"Kaiba, I was scared half to death by a nocturnal duck!"

Kaiba stood there watching her. Who knew ducks could be nocturnal?

_You learn something new everyday_, he thought, his mind focusing on the girl laughing before him.

* * *

**End of Chapter III**

* * *

Ok, so it wasn't the best place to leave off. But hey, I wanted to get this chapter done as soon as possible since, well, I felt like it.

I bet you weren't expecting that as Téa's pen pal, right? That detail was something I had planned since the beginning of the story, and let me tell you know that it has a major role in the ending.

**Amarie Miriel-**Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the new plots! And yes, Joey and Serenity are siblings as if that wasn't obvious in the last chapter. As for their ages, you know that Seto's nineteen, Yugi and his friends are the same age, and Serenity's a few months short of her eighteenth birthday.

**Chibi Chib-**Ahh yes, the hill was my favorite part of the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

**Crimson Breeze-**lol Thanks for the review, but my stuff is _nothing_ compared with some of the great Seto/Serenity authors out there.

**Lady Psychic-**Thanks for the review!

**LazerWulf-**Thanks for reviewing. Hmm…the whole "Yugi pointing out the food places" thing is actually a spoiler for "Really and Truly" where, in a few chapters, you learn about Yugi's obsession with ice cream, which is actually quite funny, if I may toot my own horn. As for Gozaburo's Will, that was something spur of the moment so that I could have another reason to make Seto try to capture Serenity's attention.

**L Lover-**Thanks for liking my story and reviewing for all three chapters! That makes me happy. You deserve a cookie. Would you like a cookie?

**Lilxangelxsweetz-**Thanks for the review. Yupp, Old Man Warner's gonna try every trick in the book to bring Serenity down.

**Tawnykit-**I'm glad you like the three new plots! Thanks for reviewing!

**Unknown but friendly-**Thanks for reviewing!

**Vamprincessmiyu-**I'm really glad you liked the chapter. And to be honest, I don't know why they are against individual replies. Thanks for reviewing!

Ok, so I know I wasn't technically supposed to thank you all individually? But you guys won't tell, right?

I'll give you a preview if you won't tell, ok?

Good.

**Preview:**

Joey cracked open the chest and dust came flying out at the two of them. He quickly fanned the dust away from him as he reached into the trunk and pulled out a stack of ancient papers.

……. "No way," Mai gasped, reading the name on the front page of the stack.

And yes, I have this scene typed out already. I actually cut it out of this chapter to possibly end the next chapter with it.

Ok…now, this is something new…I've been having a bad month so far, so when I got mad, I typed the "phony" chapter four of the Lottery.

It's more a humor/sarcastic bit of drabble designed to vent out some of my anger, so beware: There is a bit of vulgar language. It's link is: _xanga dot com slash phonychapterfour (xanga . com / phonychapterfour). IMPORTANT:_Phonychapterfour has underscores between everyword.I typed it like that so that the actual link wouldn't get deleted, like it does everytimemy links try to be uploaded in a fic.

Please review! It would really make my day!

-Celestial Night


	5. Chapter IV

I'm so incredibly sorry for the long wait! It's just that these days, school is completely overwhelming and leaves me with absolutely no free time! Forgive me!

Hopefully, this chapter will make up for any harsh feelings!

* * *

Old Man Warner had a lot to consider, and as he glanced over his watch, he realized that he didn't have much time to think about it.

Serenity was alive, and that just couldn't be. The rules of the Lottery were simple: Whoever retrieved the cursed piece of black-dotted paper would have to suffer a cruel death. Yes, it was barbaric, to some people at least, and yes it hurt to hurt someone who lived in town with you be it a neighbor, a classmate, a "special" friend, a family member, etc. But despite the pain (both physical and emotional) that it caused, someone had to die.

Ahh…but Serenity just had to be the loophole to all of that. In school, she was the one to always write essays, try to make speeches, attempt to hold rallies, all in an effort to dissuade the rest of the town from The Lottery.

She never once threw a stone. Silly girl. Didn't she know it was the most culturally important part of the town's history?

There was a legend that centuries ago, when there wasn't enough food, when someone needed to "leave", the Lottery was played. It kept the population under control. It was the most unbiased way to make decisions. No one dared to call it monstrous, well, until a certain point, at least…

There was a time where every town in the area played the Lottery, but slowly, each one gave up that tradition. It usually happened when the mayor of some town ended up stoning someone in his own family, or when people just couldn't throw a stone at yet another familiar face. They would beg the rest of the citizens to join them and stop this barbaric game from ever happening again. That wouldn't need much persuasion. The citizens of these towns were more than ready to give up the Lottery.

The last town, if Warner remembered correctly, was Domino, that city across the bay, and that had to be nearly two decades ago.

Warner sighed. Tristan wasn't hallucinating. Serenity really was alive. She was somewhere out there, riding around in a Rolls-Royce limo, according to Tristan's description of the night he saw Serenity. Warner himself had seen the limo. He knew that this wasn't a coincidence.

He also knew that no one in this little town drove a Rolls-Royce, therefore, he had to hire some…help.

And just as his wristwatch clicked nine o'clock, he heard a sharp knock on the door.

He walked over to the door and opened it to find his bandana-wearing, laidback nephew.

"Uncle Warner!" the man cried as he leaned across the doorway and put a piece of straw in his mouth. "You called?"

"You're an hour late, Keith," Warner said angrily. "I've got important things that I want you to take care of, now come in!"

Keith lowered his sunglasses to get a good look at his uncle. Since when was he so stressed? His uncle was one of the most collected people he knew, and that's what made him Keith's favorite relative. He followed his uncle into the sitting room and sat down.

"It's about the Lottery that took place a few days ago," Warner said before Keith could say anything. "And take that ridiculous rag off of your head while you're in my house, Keith."

"My bandana? No way! It makes me look like a-"

"Hoodlum. Now take it off. Good," Warner said as he leaned forward. "About the most recent Lottery-"

"Yeah, that girl who got killed, what's her name…Like Serena or something. She went to the same school as me, and it's a shame that she got chosen. She was kinda cute to be killed."

"Her name was Serenity," Warner corrected. "And I don't think she was killed."

Keith's eyes widened. "Of course she was! I was there, you were there; she fell into the bay! _No one _survives that."

Warner shook his head. "I'm positive she did, and that's why I contacted you and your private eye skills." Warner leaned in more, and likewise, so did his nephew.

"How can I help?" Keith asked. "I mean, if she _did_ survive, and I'm not saying she did, she could've gotten anywhere. It's been like what…three days? And how do you even know she hasn't become fish food yet?"

"I'll explain everything later. Just tell me, do you still have that census on who owns what car in this area?" Warner asked as his eyes lowered.

"Sure. It's in my car-"

"Go get it," Warner ordered before Keith even had a chance to finish. So Keith went outside to retrieve the census and Warner couldn't help but smirk. It paid to have a nephew who was a private eye.

A few minutes later, Keith returned with a large, black binder in his arms and laid it down onto Warner's coffee table.

"How recent is this?" Warner asked as he greedily snatched the binder off the table and started flipping through its pages.

"About three years, and I still don't see how this will help," his nephew responded as he crossed his hands across his chest, obviously annoyed.

Warner mumbled something along the lines of "You'll see" as he flipped to the back of the binder, where everyone who had a car model that started with an 'R' was listed. Luckily, there were only a few people who could actually afford a Rolls-Royce, and this is what pleased Warner the most.

He scanned the list of addresses. The two that stood out the most were two CEO's named Maximillion Pegasus and Seto Kaiba, and the reason that they stood out was because they just happened to live in Domino, the city just across the bay that Serenity fell into.

"I want you to investigate these people," Warner said as he pointed to the addresses of the two CEO's. Keith took the binder from his uncle and looked at the two addresses.

"You want me to go to Domino?" Keith asked as his sunglass-covered eyes widened. "What's so important about these guys aside from the fact that they own a Rolls-Royce?"

"That's exactly why they're so important," Warner said. "It's about Serenity, and the fact that she's still alive…"

"Maybe I'm clueless, but I don't see the connection," Keith said as he twisted his bandana in his hands angrily. "Care to explain, before I go across the bay, what exactly it is that I'm looking for?"

"You're looking for Serenity, Keith. Need I spell it out for you?"

Keith was about to seethe with anger. "Uncle Warner, you're making this difficult. Will you just tell me how you know she's alive!"

Uncle Warner leaned back and a smile that could only be described as wicked graced his old face. "Well if you must know, it all started when I was nearly run over by a Rolls-Royce limo a couple of nights ago…"

♥

"Ok, so I take him to the park, keep him away from the pink flowers because he likes to eat those, but let him play all he wants with the butterflies in the red flower garden because that really excites him?" Serenity asked as she wrapped Peewee's leash around her wrist and pulled the straps of the dog carrier-purse around her shoulder.

"Is that right?" Mokuba shook his head as he checked his collar in the foyer's mirror.

"No, you let him go near the pink flowers because those excite him, but make sure to keep Peewee away from the red flowers because he tends to try and eat all the butterflies there. Oh!" Mokuba turned around and watched as the little dog excitedly jumped at Serenity's feet. "Make sure that he stays away from the ice cream man. They kind of have a…_bad _history."

"Kay, I think I got it," Serenity said as she checked off on her fingers. "Pink flowers are ok; red flowers and butterflies are a no-no and so is the ice cream man."

"Exactly." Mokuba winced as he heard the limo's horn honking. "Thanks for doing this, I mean Peewee hardly gets walked by someone other than one of our maids and I bet he'd really appreciate someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Serenity asked as she bent down to pet the tiny little dog. Mokuba nodded as more horns from the limo pierced the air.

"You're more genuine than the maids who only walk him because they have to. You actually seem like-" Mokuba was interrupted by the incessant honking of the limo horn that this time, refused to stop. When the honking finally _did_ stop a few moments later, Serenity smiled.

"Thanks, Mokuba. I think I know what you were trying to say."

Mokuba returned the girl's smile and then sighed when the limo's horn went off one more time. "My brother can be so persistent…" Mokuba's eyes suddenly widened. "Here, for your time." He pulled out his wallet and handed a wad of money to Serenity.

Serenity bit her lip. "Oh, no! Mokuba, you guys have been so kind to me. I really don't need—nor deserve—this."

But before Mokuba could protest, the limo's horn honked one last time, and the young boy was already out the front door. "Geez, Seto! I'm coming!"

♥

Serenity thought that a nice, long walk in the park was exactly what she needed: quiet, relaxing, and very refreshing.

However, the restless mini-demon named Peewee had completely different motives.

"No, no, not the red flowers, Peewee!" Serenity pulled on the leash and hardly had a grasp on the little brown and white puppy. For a little puppy, he sure was strong. After Peewee had run all around the park, digging up worms and other little holes across the lawns, he was able to drag Serenity all the way to the ice cream man and leave him with a little…present.

"Come on! Work with me! No-not the butterflies! They don't taste good, Peewee, nooo!!!" Serenity was about to give up on the puppy who was snapping his mouth at the butterflies when a sharp whistling sound broke through the air.

Peewee's little brown ears immediately perked up to the whistling sound, and the little dog practically did a 180 as he turned around and ran to the source of the whistle.

"Wow, that dog responds to my whistling faster than you do, Joseph," Mai teased as she released her fingers from her lips, poking Joey with her other hand.

"Oh, what a cute little doggie you are!" Téa exclaimed as the little animal jumped up and down in front of Mai.

"Cute doggie for an extremely cute girl," Duke said as he appeared in front of Serenity. He took her hand and kissed it. "Lovely seeing you again. I see those injuries haven't healed yet." He pointed to the bandages still around her wrist.

"Well it's only been a day since we've seen her," Yugi reminded. "What's the little guy's name?"

"Peewee," Serenity answered as Mai picked up the dog. "And he actually belongs to Mokuba Kaiba." Joey let out a snort.

"I still can't believe you're staying there. Doesn't it seem kinda cold and empty, like a tomb? I imagine that's how Moneybags lives," he said as he crossed his hands over his chest.

"Joey, not _everything_ is as hollow and empty as your brain," Téa replied. Joey simply snorted louder.

"So, do you guys have any plans for the day?" Serenity asked as Mai handed Peewee to her. The group of the older teenagers simply shrugged. The truth was, ever since summer started, they were really bored. The highlight of each other's day was visiting one another and walking, for what seemed like the billionth time, around Domino.

"Hmm…well, after I walked Peewee I was going to go to town and get some lunch. Do you guys want to join me? My treat," Serenity offered.

"That's very sweet of you, Serenity, but you don't have to pay for us," Mai said as Téa nodded, much to Joey, Yugi and Duke's disappointment.

"It's no problem, really," Serenity explained. "Mokuba gave me a 'thank you' for walking his dog around, and I'm sure that'll be enough for all six of us. Besides, Joey paid for my pancakes the other day, and this is the least I can do to repay him."

Joey's eyes seemed to light up at these words.

"Come on! If ol' Moneybags' is payin', can't we have lunch with her?" Joey asked Mai, who seemed to be making the decisions for the group. However, that wasn't the only reason he wanted to eat lunch with the girl.

Ever since the other day, when he had seen that heart-shaped birthmark over Serenity's elbow, he'd been on a mission: To uncover the most he could about this girl, because she could have been…

"Joseph! Are you listening to me?" Joey snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see Mai's angry, lilac eyes flashing in front of him.

"Sorry, Mai, did ya say something?" And this just caused Mai to jab Joey in the chest.

"Clean out your ears, Wheeler. I said come on." Mai glanced at her watch. "If we want to walk all the way uptown in time for lunch, we'd better get a move on."

"Actually, Mai, Mokuba gave me a chauffeur to drive around town…" Serenity trailed off as she pointed to the park's sidewalk where a sleek, black Rolls-Royce was parked.

"Hmm…I was wondering who owned that," Duke mused.

Joey looked like he was in heaven. "You mean we get a free lunch _and_ get to ride in Moneybags' limo?" he rubbed his hands together. "Dis is great!"

♥

"Listen, do you want to go to the Kaiba mansion first or the Pegasus estate? Make up your mind!" the cab driver ordered as Keith kept staring at the addresses he had to investigate. Was everyone in Domino this bossy?

Uncle Warner had made it clear in his story; Serenity was alive, she was in a black, Rolls-Royce limo, etc. What Keith was interested in the most was the publicity this case would give him. He could just imagine the headlines: Amateur Private Eye Brings Back Supposedly 'Dead' Girl. It all brought a smile to his lips.

But unfortunately, now that he had actually taken a train to Domino to investigate the two people he knew had a limo in this city, he didn't know where to begin.

"Well, which one's closer?" Keith asked.

"I dunno, the Kaiba Mansion, I think." The cab driver had calmed down, seeing that Keith was close to making a decision.

"Then that's where-"

"AMAZIN'!!!! NOW I KNOW WHY MONEYBAGS LIKES RIDIN' IN THESE SO MUCH!!!"

A limo, a Rolls-Royce to be exact, passed the cab that Keith was sitting in. Despite the yellow-haired idiot sticking his head out the window and screaming like a siren, Keith was sure that this limo had to belong to either Seto Kaiba or Maximillion Pegasus. They were the only two rich enough in this town to afford one.

"Actually, change of plans," Keith said as he watched the limo pass them by. The cab driver groaned.

"Where to?" the driver asked, annoyed.

"Follow that limo."

♥

"Come on, Seto, eat something," Mokuba urged, holding up a forkful of pasta to his brother's face.

Kaiba grunted in return as he swatted the utensil away. Mokuba sighed.

"Ok, Seto, so this morning's meeting wasn't great, but what's the big deal anyway? I mean, sure, you have to get married and get a kid soon or else we'll lose KaibaCorp…but you're just about the right age. Besides, you have a city _full_ of fan girls. Any of 'em will jump at the chance." Mokuba made it all seem so simple as he casually chewed his meal.

"I don't want to give into our stepfather's will. He purposely made it so that we could never run the company that _we_ made successful," Kaiba reminded as he put his hand to his mouth, his eyes little slits.

"Not 'never', Seto," Mokuba reminded. "You gain complete, unconditional authority once you get a kid."

"I will not be dictated and be forced to have a family because of a piece of paper." Kaiba had to restrain his hands from tightening into fists. How dare Gozaburo think he can give Seto Kaiba, the one who revolutionized KaibaCorp, an ultimatum. He was not going to give in, and that was a fact.

"And by the way," Mokuba looked up at Seto started to speak. "The will never said that _I_ had to be the one to get a kid. You can have a child born a Kaiba as well," the older one reminded.

"The will gives you three more years, Seto. In three years, I'll still be in high school. Do you _want_ me to have a kid before I have a diploma?" Mokuba reminded, causing Kaiba's eyes to widen.

"Absolutely not! You're staying in school and making something of yourself. Don't worry about this will. I'll take care of it," Seto ordered as he pushed away the plate in front of him. He had suddenly lost any bit of appetite that he had.

"See," Mokuba said as the elder Kaiba leaned against his chair and stared anywhere but at Mokuba, "the way Gozaburo set it up, _you_ have to have the kid, and he did that on purpose because he saw the person you became."

Kaiba looked up. "The person I became? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," Mokuba started as a waitress came over and collected their plates, "You're not exactly the most family…" Mokuba trailed off. He had caught interest in something behind his brother.

"What?" Kaiba asked as he followed his younger brother's gaze. "Oh."

Behind him, at the entrance, Serenity had just entered and was being handed a menu by a waitress. But much to Kaiba's displeasure, she wasn't alone. Yugi, Mai, _Wheeler_, Devlin, and…that brown-haired girl whose name Kaiba never really learned, were with her.

"Should we call her over? She can eat with us!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly. Kaiba's head snapped back at his brother.

"You want that as our company?"

"Serenity's great-"

"I was talking about Yugi and his friends," Kaiba explained. "Sooner or later she'll learn what losers she's hanging out with."

♥

"Wow, I never thought I'd ever eat here," Mai said in awe as Joe pulled out a seat for her.

"Yeah, and at Moneybags' expense, too," Joey reminded as he sat down.

"Joey, Kaiba's not paying," Yugi reminded, pulling a chair out for Téa. "Serenity is."

"Of course, because Kaiba could never have a heart as big as she," Duke said as he pulled out a chair for Serenity. Serenity blushed at the compliment and sat down.

"Well, we should all thank Mokuba, really, I mean he's the one who gave the money to me," Serenity explained.

"Yes, but it's so sweet of you to take out to lunch, and to one of the fanciest bistros in town at that!" Téa gushed as she stared at the ornate surroundings.

The restaurant had several murals of Italian landscapes painted all over the walls with a beautiful, vibrant painting of clear blue skies on the ceiling. Several large plants accented the corners while large, rich drapes were placed over the fifteen-foot tall windows. There was even a violinist playing in one of the corners.

Tristan had promised that he would take Serenity to a restaurant just like this once they were married, and he would show everyone what a lovely wife he had. It brought tears to Serenity's eyes, but Serenity fought them away.

Just thinking about this made Serenity drift off into her memories. It was all less than a week ago that the Lottery had happened…but unfortunately, everything had changed…

"So, how long are you planning on staying?" Mai asked. Serenity looked up and broke out of her reverie. "Are you ok, hun?" she asked, realizing that Serenity had suddenly gone pale.

"I'm fine…I'm just…thinking of my hometown," Serenity said quietly. This caught the attention of everyone in the group, especially Joey.

"Where'd you say you were from again?" he asked in a serious tone that Serenity had never heard before.

"Somewhere not like here," Serenity responded. She suddenly felt something warm on her hand and looked to find Duke grasping her fingers.

"Well I for one hope that you don't have to go back anytime soon," he said, bringing her face awfully close to Serenity's. Serenity sweat dropped at his nearness.

"Eh…don't worry about that," Serenity said nervously.

"You're not going back anytime soon?" Duke asked eagerly.

"No…Can I have my hand back now please?"

♥

"I thought I was done. He had 1500 life points and I had 300, but then, WHAM! I pulled out a polymerization and fused my-"

"Joseph-"

"-and it became this huge monster called-"

"Joseph-"

"-haha! You shoulda seen the look in his eyes-"

"_Joseph!_" Mai exclaimed in a voice to not disturb the rest of the people at the restaurant.

"What?" Joey asked, annoyed that Mai wouldn't let him finish his story. "Can't you see that Serenity wants to hear the rest of my story?" Joey turned to look at Serenity, but unfortunately, the younger girl had a glassy look over her eyes and looked as though she would fall asleep any minute.

"Apparently Serenity doesn't find Duel Monsters as interesting as the rest of us," Mai explained as she took a sip of her orange juice. Serenity looked up after hearing her name, flustered.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm just really not into games." When she was finished speaking, she looked back to the five others she was eating with, but they were staring at something behind her.

Serenity turned her head, only to end up dropping her jaw.

"Sorry, Miss, I just wanted to tell you that your dog is about to come out of his bag," a large, muscular man with an American flag for a bandana and dark shades that completely covered his eyes.

"Oh," Téa said as she picked up Peewee's bag and realized that the little dog was desperately trying to undo the zipper from the bag, which only let him poke his head out from a small hole at the side of the bag.

"Poor thing. Thanks for telling us," Téa thanked. Serenity just kept staring at the man.

"Keith," Serenity finally had the nerve to say.

Warner's nephew. Warner, the man who ran the Lottery, his nephew. Keith, or Bandit Keith, as he liked to be called, was one of the rudest kids she had the displeasure of going to school with. He was probably one of the most avid fans of the Lottery.

Serenity wouldn't be surprised if he threw one of the stones at her…

"You guys have met before?" Yugi asked. Serenity started to rub the bandages around her wrist.

"In the park," Serenity explained.

"Ahh…yes," Keith said, going along with Serenity. "I met you at the park. Serenity, right?"

Serenity nodded dumbly as goosebumps rose over her skin. She didn't know that tables away, the Kaiba brothers were watching her.

"Who's that guy?" Kaiba asked, craning his neck to see over some of the tables.

"I don't know, but I think Serenity knows him," Mokuba responded as he watched Serenity converse with the man. Kaiba looked at his younger brother.

"I've never seen him before," he said.

"Maybe they just met," Mokuba offered.

Meanwhile, Serenity felt her world getting smaller. Warner's nephew was here. His nephew. No doubt this either meant Warner himself knew or that Keith was going to tell his Uncle soon. Either way, Serenity had to leave.

"Excuse me," Serenity said as she stood up. She knew Keith wouldn't make an attempt to grab her in such a classy restaurant, but she still speedily rushed to the bathroom, nearly knocking over her chair in the process.

Kaiba watched as she practically shoved open the bathroom door and ran in. _Something's wrong._

♥

Serenity turned on the cold water and splashed it onto her face. She looked up at the mirror and noticed that some of the redness had subsided. She tried to relax, but how could she?

_Warner's gonna come for me. He's gonna find me and take me home and…_

"Finish what he started," Serenity said aloud. She could feel the tingling sensation slither down her body. She looked around at the elegant bathroom: a few stalls, a couch, a couples of potted plants and…aha! A window at the very top of the room.

Serenity raced to the wall and looked up at the window. As she jumped up and down in hopes of reaching the window, she realized she had to be realistic. She stopped jumping and looked at the window. It was purposely designed to keep anyone from leaving, incase someone decided not to pay their bill or something.

"Damn," Serenity thought as she paced the room. If she went back outside, surely Keith would follow her or something. But she couldn't just leave…first of all, the window was too small, and second of all…

Her friends. In the couple of days she had known him, she had grown a small attachment to them. She didn't want to leave without saying a proper farewell.

And of course the Kaiba brothers…they were the reason why she was still living (quite literally). How could she just leave them without even saying goodbye? After all they had done for her.

Serenity stopped pacing. She had to deal with this now. She wasn't going to let some demented ritual from her old town follow her for the rest of her life. It wasn't truly living if she had to face this fear everyday.

She grabbed the large, metal doorknob of the bathroom door and took a deep breath. She looked back at the window. _There's no way I'm gonna fit…_

Would she have to tell her friends? Would they believe her? Would they comfort her? Would they turn her in?

"They wouldn't," she reminded herself. "They're not like that." And with that belief firmly in her mind, she opened the door.

As she walked outside, she could see the people at their tables laughing, eating, joking…their lives went on. Why couldn't hers?

And that's when she felt it, a strong hand grabbing her shoulder and pulling her into a pair of bulky arms.

"You've been awfully tricky, Miss Serenity," Keith whispered as he turned her around to face him. "You had us all believing that you were dead. Tsk tsk. Very naughty."

Serenity looked around slowly. She was in a small corner of the restaurant, near the bathrooms and the telephones. She had never wanted anyone to go to the bathroom more than she did now.

"K-kk-Keith!" Serenity stammered, her heart racing against her chest in a rhythm that had to be unhealthy. "P-please…don't do this. Don't continue that _game_. Don't follow your Uncle's footsteps. Anyone who believes that the L-l-lottery is worth playing is insane!"

Bandit Keith lowered his sunglasses to reveal his sharp, blue eyes. "Did you think my Uncle was just gonna let someone get away with this?" he hissed. "No one's meant to survive!"

"No one needs to know," Serenity reminded. "Please, Keith…" Serenity could hear the desperation in her voice. It made her sick.

"I wish it could be that simple, really, I do," Keith said as he put his arm around Serenity. He started to lead her out of the bathroom lobby. "If anyone asks, you're my girlfriend and aren't feeling well so I'm taking you back home. Got it?"

Serenity looked around nervously, waiting for Keith to lead her pass her friends' table. But Keith was too smart for that.

"By the way, we're going to take the back exit out," he explained. Just as he turned a corner, arm still firmly around Serenity's shoulder, he nearly bumped into a tall, young man wearing an intimidating trench coat.

"Excuse me," Keith mumbled as he walked past Kaiba quickly. Serenity turned her head slightly in an attempt to catch Kaiba's eye, but she didn't know that Kaiba was already ahead of her.

"You seem like you're in a hurry," Kaiba said as he watched the two walk away. "Everything alright?" Kaiba started following the pair, and Keith noticed.

Keith nudged Serenity in the shoulder. The two stopped walking and as Serenity turned around, the pleading look in her eyes was obvious.

"I'm his girlfriend. He's taking me _home_ because I'm not feeling well," Serenity explained. Kaiba smirked and walked up to the man and Serenity, smirking so that the other people in the restaurant wouldn't get suspicious about the scene unfolding before them.

"I know what you're trying to do, and I'll have you know I can have you arrested before you take another step," Kaiba whispered as he came face-to-face with the man. The smirk never left his face.

"Hmm…you don't seem like a Maximillion Pegasus to me. I'm guessing you're Seto Kaiba?" Keith asked as his grip on Serenity increased. Kaiba nodded.

"You've done your research."

"She doesn't belong here," Keith responded. "I'm sure you know her story by now. Just save yourself some trouble and let me take her."

"So you can make her the next victim of your crude game? Forgive me, but I'll have to pass." Just the way Kaiba's icy eyes glistened as he said thism Bandit Keith knew that he had encountered a formidable foe.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," Keith spat. "This is beyond my control. I'm just trying to fix what's wrong. She chose the wrong piece of paper, she had to pay. Everyone who chooses wrong…_deals_ with the consequences." Serenity cringed as she remembered.

"Since when does a game of pick and choose become a matter of life and death?" Kaiba responded, keeping his voice low. "Now, my brother is a few tables away, and at my signal, he'll find the nearest phone, which is conveniently right over there he nodded to the side, and he'll call the police, and unfortunately for you, I have the power in this town to make sure you never see the light of day again. Release the girl."

Keith knew when he was beat. He was in the middle of the restaurant and had one of the richest men in the town threatening him. Unless he wanted an all out scene, he had to surrender.

Keith let go of Serenity's shoulder, and as soon as she could, she ran over to Kaiba and stood behind him.

"Don't think that you've seen the last of me," Keith explained as he lowered his sunglasses. Kaiba simply snorted. He looked over at Serenity. "Enjoy your last few days," he whispered before turning around and walking away.

As soon as Kaiba saw that Keith had indeed walked out of the restaurant, he turned to Serenity and Mokuba ran up to the girl as well.

"Are you ok?" Mokuba asked. Serenity merely nodded.

"Come on, we're taking you home," Kaiba ordered. Serenity was in no mood to object.

She walked over to the table Joey and his friends were sitting at.

"Is everything ok?" Mai asked.

"Yeah, you were in the bathroom for a while," Duke said, but Téa ribbed him to shut him up.

Serenity realized that from where her friends were seated, they probably couldn't have been able to see her and Bandit Keith.

She took Peewee from Téa and gave her the money that Mokuba had given her this morning.

"That's for the lunch," Serenity explained as she pulled Peewee's bag over her shoulder.

"You're not staying?" Joey asked as he started to get up.

"I'm just not feeling well, and I actually ran into Kaiba who said he'll take me home," Serenity said meekly. She gave them all one final glance. "It's just so…_nice_ to have friends like you."

Her friends, although a bit startled by the way she was staring at them with sincere gratitude in her eyes, said their goodbyes and watched her walkaway.

♥

"I can't keep doing this," Serenity said as she leaned against the limo's seat. "I can't keep depending on you like some helpless nobody."

"We can't let them keep coming after you, either," Mokuba responded. "We're just trying to keep you safe."

"I need to start my own life sooner or later," Serenity reminded. "I mean, you guys are wonderful, but you're not my family…wait! My family!"

"What about them? Didn't they stone you?" Kaiba asked.

"No! That was Tristan's family…they took care of me ever since my adopted mother died."

"Adopted?" the brothers asked in unison.

"Yes! I was adopted, Kaiba! And I know from seeing my birth certificate that my mother is from Domino!"

♥

"Joseph, can we please leave? It's so _dingy_ in here," Mai whined as she stepped over the old boxes and antiques that inhabited Joey's attic.

"Mai, this could be the girl," Joey reminded as he looked through the attic using his flashlight. "I have to be sure."

"Joseph," Mai sighed, "Every new girl you meet you think may be your 'long-lost sister'. What makes Serenity so different?"

"She has the birthmark!" Joey reminded. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Always the optimist…"

"Aha!" Joey screamed, startling Mai as he ran over to an old chest. He dusted it off and stared at it as if it was going to give him all the gold in the world.

"What's so Aha about that?" Mai asked, extremely bored.

"It has all the papers from the day my baby sister was born," he said quietly.

"Fine, Joseph, but what are we going to do with that?" Mai asked. "It'll just tell us what we already know. Her birthday, her weight and height, her time of birth…how's that going to help us?" Mai asked as she leaned against a column of boxes.

"My mother named my sister before she gave her away," Joey explained. "Now, Ma never told me her name since it brought back to many bad memories…but she did tell me that there was a chest in the attic that had a copy of her birth certificate, and that means her name!"

Mai didn't have the heart to tell Joey that his sister's name was probably changed by her adoptive parents, so she remained quiet as she sat down beside him. "Open it." Joey nodded.

Joey cracked open the chest and dust came flying out at the two of them. He quickly fanned the dust away from him as he reached into the trunk and pulled out a stack of old papers.

"This is it," Joey said as he looked at them. But he didn't have to look far, for written on the first page, the copy of the birth certificate, was a girl's name.

_Serenity_

"No way," Mai gasped, reading the name on the front page of the stack. Could it have been a coincidence? Serenity was the right age…she had the Wheeler heart-shaped birthmark, and now this…?

She glanced over at Joey. He was staring at the name with fixed eyes.

"Are you going to tell her?" Mai asked quietly.

Joey looked up from the papers and looked at Mai intensely. His eyes were shaking.

"I'm not sure if she wants to be told."

* * *

**End of Chapter IV  
**

* * *

I hope you guys liked it!

Please read and review!

-Celestial Night


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